Jeremy Coglin

Jeremy Coglin was an American judge who presided over the 1841 court case United States v. The Amistad in the District of Connecticut. Coglin was chosen by President Martin Van Buren to replace the previous judge presiding over the case because Coglin seemed to be young and impressionable; the Democratic Party had leverage over him, as they knew that his grandfather was a Catholic Irishman, not a Protestant. Coglin nevertheless ruled in favor of the plaintiff in the case after Roger Sherman Baldwin presented evidence to Coglin that proved that the African slaves in question were born in Africa, and therefore not property of Spain or any man.